Here are a few short films and YouKu discoveries my students have shared recently.
from Spain
from Pixar
Alternate Day Fasting: Progress Report
07 May 2013 1 Comment
in culture, food, musing, opinion Tags: alternate day fasting, Eating, health, Intermittent fasting, nutrition
It’s week two of this, Alternate Day Fasting (a.k.a. Intermittent Fasting). Last week I fasted on Sunday and then Thursday. It wasn’t a complete success because I was going to fast on Wednesday, but I just got tempted so I changed my second day to Thursday. Last week was a weird week because I worked on Sunday and had Monday – Wednesday off. I just think if I don’t have to work, eating will be more of a temptation – at least by dinnertime.
Tuesday I have a good schedule for my fasts. I teach from 8-10am then again from 2:30 to 4:30pm. I can skip breakfast easily enough and if I get a 400-500 calorie lunch, I’m okay for the afternoon. Then I can take it easy in the evening and go to sleep early if hunger gets to be too much, as it has.
Thursday seemed harder because I teach from 8 to noon. So the afternoon’s wide open for temptation. As far as my teaching schedule goes Friday would be a better day as it’s just like Tuesday, but Friday is typically a night to go out with friends. I may need to fast on Sundays.
Today I’ve been pretty good. I did eat some radish balls for a small supper as it’s really hard to miss dinner completely. I recall I had fruit for dinner last week.
It’s interesting how this challenges me. It’s a more intense challenge than say cutting out a food group, but because its short term and intense, I think it’ll work. I can tell myself that tomorrow I can have some chocolate or whatever. I’m not going to weigh myself the first month because this change isn’t about weight, though that wouldn’t be a bad side effect. It’s about avoiding cancer and dementia, which seem to be caused by the American diet.
Parts Unknown
30 Apr 2013 2 Comments
in culture, expat life, television, travel Tags: Anthony Bourdain, Bagan, Burma, CNN, Myanmar
Anthony Bourdain seems to be everywhere, not just everywhere in the world but everywhere on TV. He’s the center of ABC’s The Taste, the Travel Channel, PBS’ Mind of a Chef and now CNN’s Parts Unknown. The series premiered with Bourdain heading to Myanmar, a country I’ve wanted to visit for years and years, but couldn’t as I didn’t want to support that military.
Bagan, Myanmar
In episode 1, Bourdain travels to Myanmar, a.k.a. Burma. As you’d expect he meets up with interesting folk over enticing food. Many of his interview subjects had been imprisoned when the military was keeping tighter constraints and they openly discussed politics, their experiences and their expectations for the future.
After a few days in the capital, Bourdain and his mentor take a clunky slow train to Bagan. The town of Bagan looked so inviting and untouched. Yet the train ride seemed so risky. Perhaps when/if I visit Myanmar, I’ll skip the trains, though air travel isn’t much safer.
The episode was fascinating and Bourdain’s insights were wry and wise.
The series is off to a good start, though I’m not sure I’d spend the time on the second episode, which is L.A. Yeah, L.A. has its bizarro pockets and its elegance and diversity, but who doesn’t know that? I watch travel shows to discover places I can’t easily get to myself.
Wandering around Jinan
29 Apr 2013 3 Comments
in art, China, culture, expat life, Holiday, Weekly Photo Challenge Tags: Botanical garden, Jinan, Thousand Buddha Mountain
We planned to go to the Jinan Botanical Gardens, but got the wrong directions. It’s no where near where we were sent apparently. Instead, we went to the Jinan Museum, which our friend mistook for the Shandong Provincial Museum and to Thousand Buddha Mountain, which it seems our well meaning friend thought was part of a botanical garden.
At the Jinan Museum
No big deal as we had a wonderful day anyway.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Culture
28 Apr 2013 16 Comments
in architecture, art, Blogging Challenge, Chicago, China, culture, Europe, museum, photos, society, Weekly Photo Challenge Tags: African art, church, Knight, postaday2013, postaweek2013, suit of armor
At the Art Institute of Chicago
Art Institute Chicago
New Orleans Church
At the Chicago Cultural Center
Chinese Painting, Shandong Provincial Museum
Here’s how it works:
1. Each week, we’ll provide a theme for creative inspiration. You take photographs based on your interpretation of the theme, and post them on your blog anytime before the following Friday when the next photo theme will be announced.
2. To make it easy for others to check out your photos, title your blog post “Weekly Photo Challenge: (theme of the week)” and be sure to use a “postaday2013″ or “postaweek2013″ tag.
3. Subscribe to The Daily Post so that you don’t miss out on weekly challenge announcements. Sign up via the email subscription link in the sidebar or RSS.
Related posts
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Culture (daily post)
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Culture (beijing daily photo)
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Culture (flickr comments)
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Culture (nantucket tie chic)
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Culture (kelli)
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Culture (my hand)
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Culture (life’s so sweet)
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Culture (cardinal guzman)
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Culture (eternal traveler)
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Culture (sasieology)
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Culture (en snogummas)
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Culture (here and there)
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Culture (summerfield 84)
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Culture (beijing daily photo)
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Culture (escaping from chaos)
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Culture (no fixed plans)
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Culture (francine in retirement)
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Up (daily post)
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Up (colline’s blog)
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Up (flickr comments)
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Up(third eye mom
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Up (four deer oak)
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Up (francine in retirement)
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Up (lucid gypsy)
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Up (beijing daily photo)
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Up (live laugh photograph)
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Up (travel with intent)
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Up (roadtripping europe)
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Up (lux capacity)
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Up (spendy pencil)
Weifang International Kite Festival
23 Apr 2013 2 Comments
in China, culture, Event Tags: China, Kite, recreation, Weifang, Weifang International Kite Festival
I’ve wanted to go to the Weifang International Kite Festival, but it’s always taken place during the work week. Finally, it was on a weekend. Two friends and I got train tickets, but one backed out Saturday morning as it was cold and we’d had snow, yes snow, the night before. April 19th will go down as the latest date for snow that I’ve experienced.
Ed and I ventured on. Yeah, the weather might be better on Sunday, but who knew?
The sleek bullet train whisked us to Weifang in about 90 minutes. At the station we got a cab rather easily. Tip: if you come to China make or download the addresses or names of places you need to get to. If possible zoom the print or write big, because a lot of cabbies need reading glasses.
Our cab took us to the stadium outside town, but a police barricade wouldn’t let him drop us off in front. In fact we had to be dropped off a couple miles away from the site. As it was, we were cutting it close to arrive for the opening ceremony. We started to walk and lucked into an official with the right sign on her dashboard. She offered us a ride and had the right status to get past the checkpoints.
After the ceremony
Unfortunately, we were too late to make the opening ceremony, which by the dancers’ costumes looked great. We got to see them all as they trudged through the mud with their winter coats on on this fine April day.
From 11 am to 2 pm, there was free flying for anyone interested. Kites of every shape and size filled the sky, the gray sky, though that really didn’t matter. Neither did the cold. We got to talk with the American team and their Chinese translator and I learned that anything you can do on ice can be done with kites: dancing, stunts, competitions. I expected the events at two to have commentary, and there was some in Chinese, but I’d hoped an international festival would have another language as well. There were participants from 30 countries: France, Austria, the US, Bangladesh, India, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Singapore, the Philippines and more. I do speak some French and Japanese, so it needn’t be English.
Well, I suppose the commentary wasn’t crucial. I was surprised that when the events started there wasn’t much difference from the free kite time. We watched some more and then went into the city. It took awhile to wander to the main road and find a cab. In the end we did, though it was an illegal or black cab. Our disagreement over how much we “should” be over charged was brief.
We wandered around the park in front of the train station, and then on to some kite shops. Finally we went to the city park, which was quite beautiful, a nice surprise as Weifang is in need of some spiffing up. All in all, it was a terrific day.
The one recommendation I’d make is that the festival needs better restroom facilities. Spectators for an all day event need some facilities, real ones. Not a few holes in the ground with temporary walls of corrugated steel. Quite a turn off.
Related articles
- Qingming in literature (hereisbeijing.com)
- Blossom Kite Festival 2013 (seglass.wordpress.com)
- Go Fly a Kite (theworldisourdistrict.com)
- Tybee Island Kite Flying Festival (tybeeisland.com)
- Let?s Go Fly a Kite: Hundreds Come out for Washington?s Kite Festival (wjla.com)
Five Dragon Pond
19 Apr 2013 1 Comment
in China, culture, travel Tags: China, Jinan, leisure, park
In downtown Jinan, with an admission rate of just 5rmb, the smaller and I think more serene Five Dragon Pond is a lovely place for a stroll. You don’t realize you’re in a city.
I can’t believe I went here for the first time on Wednesday.
Sports Day
19 Apr 2013 1 Comment
in China, culture, education, expat life, photos Tags: event, sports, university life
For the first time the university sports day was mandatory for teachers. The pain of having to be up and ready by 7:20 am so we could wait in the cold was eased by new flashy, cool jackets.
Mind you it’s cold and they’re in cotton shirts
In the past, this was a chance to travel without being part of a holiday hordes. Some colleagues did go out of town this afternoon, but I’m going to the International Kite Festival an hour or so away from here in Weifang so I stayed put.
Spiffy Jacket
April is the cruelest month and today it was about 40 degrees. Shortly after my marching duties in the Sports Day, I went back to my apartment and got my parka. The spiffy new jacket’s really designed for the low60s and some rain.
Walking Around Da Ming Lake
14 Apr 2013 3 Comments
in architecture, China, culture, expat life, photos Tags: China, Da Ming Lake, Jinan, lake, museum, nature, Shandong
This afternoon was a picture perfect spring day so I went for a walk around Da Ming Lake, a sight Jinan is particularly proud of. I went into the scholar’s home, which is a small museum. I’m not sure of the era of the home, but the furnishings were exquisite. I’d love to have such furniture, though I’d want modern futon or mattress for the bed.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Change
13 Apr 2013 15 Comments
in China, architecture, culture, Blogging Challenge, meme, Jinan Tags: China, nature, postaweek2011, DailyPost, Jinan, sacred, postaweek2013, Weekly Photo Challenge, change, springs
The light is changing
You can’t see it, but the interior’s changing, getting restored.
Hopefully, we go to change
Here’s how it works:
1. Each week, we’ll provide a theme for creative inspiration. You take photographs based on your interpretation of the theme, and post them on your blog anytime before the following Friday when the next photo theme will be announced.
2. To make it easy for others to check out your photos, title your blog post “Weekly Photo Challenge: (theme of the week)” and be sure to use a “postaday2013″ or “postaweek2013″ tag.
3. Subscribe to The Daily Post so that you don’t miss out on weekly challenge announcements. Sign up via the email subscription link in the sidebar or RSS.
Related posts
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Change (lund sweden)
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Change (daily post)
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Change (she unfolds)
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Change (standing still)
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Change (wondering rose)
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Change (shy raven)
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Change (wind against the current)
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Change (bambangpriantono)
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Change (beijing daily photo)
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Change (no fixed plans)
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Change (jinan daily photo)
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Change (flickr comments)
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Change (musings of a random mind)
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Color (daily post)
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Color (beijing daily photo)
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Color (ilargia64)
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Color (sofacents)
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Color (colline’s blog)
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Color (simplicity of being)
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Color (francine in retirement)
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Color (flickr comments)
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Color (third eye mom)
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Color (touch of insanity)
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Color (dreams of lotus land)
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Color (JT’s blog)
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Color (here and abroad)
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Color (no fixed plans)
smkelly8
